Tin box intended to be vacuumized, or like container



May 10, 1938. A. F. cowAN TIN BOX INTENDED TO BE VACUUMIZEH), OR LIKECONTAINER Filed Aug. 30, 1935 Patented May 10, 1938 2,117,151

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TIN BOX INTENDED TO BE VACUUMIZED, OR LIKECONTAINER Alan Fraser Cowan, Shirley, England, assignor to The Metal BoxCompany Limited, London, England, a company of Great Britain ApplicationAugust 30, 1935, Serial No. 38,632 In Great Britain septcmber zz, 1934Claims. (01. 220-41) This invention relates to tin boxes or like con-Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the container tainers intended to bevacuumized and has for body shown in Figs. 1 and 2; and its object toprovide an improved construction Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional viewof a furwhereby uniformity of production obtains. ther modifiedconstruction. 5 According to the present invention a box or In thedrawing like reference numerals deslg- 5 like container intended to bevacuumized has a nate the same or similar parts. lid hinged thereto, andthe box is provided with In one form of manufacture according to the acurled or beaded edge and one hinge member invention the box'is formedfrom a rectangular on. the box is formed in an extension of the blankcomprising a lateral extension from which 10 curl or bead and engagesloosely the other hinge the hinge member is. to be formed. 10

member on the lid, whereby a hinge is formed The blank is then drawn andshaped to reallowing play and the lid is free to seat itself quired formand the periphery curled or beaded on the curl or bead. so that acontinuous. and even curl (or head) ob- By making the hinge member ofthe box in an tains at the mouth. The extension which, by extension ofthe curl an evenness is obtained the curling operation is pointingdownwardly 13 by the curling operation which produces a perfrom thebead, is then bent up. fect seating for the lid, hence if packing mate-The resultant container body is shown in Fig. rial is disposed betweenthe curl and the lid a 7 in which 'i is the body portion, 2 the curledor standard production suitable for vacuumizlng is beaded edge and 3 theextension. always obtained, whilst if the lid is hinged with A lid 4(Figs. 2 and. 3) is provided with a skirt, free play the hinge jointgives the lid full freeor flange or extension 5 formed to drop into thedom to seat itself on the even curl so that an bent up extension 3 andis slotted at 6 to give hermetically sealed box maybe obtained underentry through the skirt I of the free end of reduced pressure, and whenthe vacuum is dethe extension 3, the slot being suiii'ciently largestroyed the lid remains connected to the box. to permit verticaldisplacement of the lid at the 25 The sealing medium may be an elasticband hinge. The beaded edge of the cover flange or a plastic mass. If aband is used the latter thusforms a, pintle adapted to be receivedwithin may have a tab which projects and may be pulled. the extension 3which forms a socket. to displace the band and break down the vacu- Bysuch an arrangement the lid may be turned um, or if a plastic mass isused the box or lid about the hinge and when over the. box may fall 30may have a pin hole closured by a removable parallelly to the curl.patch or cover as well known in the art; The lid l is formed to locatepacking mate- Experience has shown that'if the curl does not rial overthe bead and extension and to this end extend wholly around the mouthand an attempt may be dished to form a wall about which a band. is madeto bend over metal between the ends I may be disposed (as shown in Fig.8) or the of a curl to form one member of a joint that it lid may beformed with a peripheral groove 8 to is impossible to assure theevenness of seating locate plastic material or a band I in the lid.required to assure standard production or the The wall of e containermay be formed with continuity required t assure a sea]. a groove or withan indentation orfbead as shown 40 In order that the invention may bemore clearat in 1 for Supporting a 00in other 40 ly understood,reference will now be made to plement by means of which the may bethe'accompanymg drawing which shows by way vered off withoutfirst'breaking the vacuum. of example preferred embodiments thereof.Means may be provided' however for destroy I the ing the vacuum beforethe lid is removed. n 1 t ti 1 vi f n In the construction shown in Fig.l a pin- 5 is ransverse sec mm b ew o t O hole is provided in the bottomoi the container form of construction according to t e inven ion, andthis hole is closured by a removable patch Fig. 2 is a perspective viewof the container or closure as known in the am Show" in 1; The edge ofthe lid opposite the hinged .joint 3 is Perspective View on an enlarge-dscale and or the wall between the hinged joint and the of the hingeconstruction shown in Figs. 1 and 2; from; of t lid may b provided it otFigs- 4 and 5 are Perspective Views modified ances 9 to catch under thebead or curl 2 on the forms of hinges; periphery of the box to retainthe lid 4 closed Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a modified conwhen oncethe vacuum has been broken. struction of container; From the foregoingit will be observed that 55 many variations may be made in the hingeJoint without departing from the invention. For example, the extension 3from the bead may extend laterally from the box as shown in Fig. 4 andbe slotted as at III to admit freely a tongue ll depending from the lid4, the tongue ll being, for example, curled and/or upset as at I! toprevent return through the slot.

The extension 3 on the box previously described with reference to Figs.1, 2 and 3 may be formed with a rib or shoulders as shown at IS in Fig.5, to limit the angle of tilt ofthe lid in the "open position.

Moreover, although the invention has been explained by reference to anembodiment in which one extension only is used, clearly instead of onehinge a box according to the invention may be provided with a plurality.

An example of a box having two such hinges is shown in Fig. 6.

The invention has been described in its particular application to a tinbox but the invention applies also to other containers, whether made ofmetal, plastic material, such as that material ;known'-on the marketunder the registered trademark Bakelite, or containers of glass,whether. transparent or opaque and in such constructions a neck ring issecured to the body of the container so that a lid may be attached tothe ring and co-operate therewith to form a closure in exactly the sameway as if the ring was the wall of the body of a tinbox.

In using the term ring reference, of course, is only made to the endlessform of the member attached to the container and not to its speciflcshape, such member may be of hexagonal, oval, square or of otherpolygonal form.

Further, it should be understood that the invention applies also to tinboxes or containers in which the lid is made of a mouldable material oris cast whether or not the body portion is a tin box or a container ofother material as previously referred to.

In referring to the edge of the mouth of the container as being providedwith a curled edge, this term is intended to include not only rollingover the edge to obtain a full curl but a mere fianging or bending overto obtain what may be referred to as a part or open curl.

Although the invention has been described in its particular applicationto a box of rectangular form, the invention is equally applicable to abox of circular or oval form provided the extensions in the lid and thebox are relatively narrow so as 55,

to permit a turning movement about the curved periphery of the box andclearly also the box may have other curved or curvilinear shapes.

What I claim is:-

1. A box or like container adapted to be vacuumized comprising a bodyportion having an outwardly curled or beaded edge, a lid, a gasketsecured to said lid and adapted to engage said bead for sealing thecontainer, said curled edge on the body being extended downwardly,thence outwardly, thence upwardly and inwardly, said lid having a skirtformed with a slot for receiving the inwardly extending portion of saidextension whereby said lid is hingedly connected to said body portion,said slot being of suflicient width so as to enable the lid to seatfreely upon the a container before the container is vacuumized.

2. A box or like container adapted to be vacuumized comprising a bodyportion having an outwardly curled or beaded edge, a lid, a gasketsecured to said lid and adapted to engage said bead for sealing thecontainer, said curled edge on the body being extended downwardly,thence outwardly, thence upwardly and inwardly, said lid having a skirtformed with a slot for receiving the inwardly extending portion of saidextension whereby said lid is hingedly connected to said body portion,said slot being of sufilcient width so as to enable the lid to seatfreely upon the container before the container is vacuumized, saidupturned portion of the extension being provided with shoulders adaptedto engage the lid and serve as stops to limit the tilting movement ofsaid lid.

3. A box or like container adapted to be vac uumized, comprising a bodyportion having an outwardly curled edge, a lid, a gasket secured to saidlid and adapted to engage said curled edge for sealing the container,said lid having a depending fiange rolled at the lower end thereof toform a bead providing a hinge pintle, the curled edge of said bodyportion being extended downwardly to partially encircle and engage thehinge pintle formed by the bead on said lid, said hinge pintle occupyingonly a portion of the space within the extended curled edge of said bodyportion whereby to permit limited vertical movement of said lid relativeto said body portion so as to enable the lid to seat freely upon thebody portion before the container is vacuumized.

4. A box or like container adapted to be vacuumized, comprising a bodyportion having an outwardly curled edge, a lid, a gasket secured to saidlid and adapted to engage said curled edge for sealing the container,said curled edge of the body portion having a depending extension bentoutwardly, upwardly and inwardly to form a hinge member, said lid havinga depending skirt and a depressed peripheral portion forming a recessfor said gasket, said skirt having a bead at the lower edge thereof anda'slot in the region of said hinge member on the body portion, saidinwardly extending portion on the extension passing through said slotand being of a thickness less than the vertical width of said slot forloosely connecting the lid to the body portion whereby to enable the lidto seat freely on the body portion before the container is vacuumiz 5. Abox or like container, adapted to be vacuumized, comprising a bodyportion having an outwardly curled edge, a lid having a depending flangeprovided with a beaded edge and having a peripheral bed adjacent saidflange, a gasket disposed in said peripheral bed and adapted to seatagainst the curled edge of said body portion, and a-hinge jointconnecting said lid with said body portion and including a socketintegral with the curled edge on said body portion and a pintle formedby a portion of the beaded edge on the lid flange, said pintle extendingwithin said sock et and only partially occupying the space within saidsocket whereby to permit the lid to seat freely upon the containerbefore it is vacuumized and also to permit the pintle to move downwardlya distance greater than the amount of reduction in thickness of thegasket when the container is vacuumized.

ALAN FRASER COWAN.

